is a Japanese

women's rights activist Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. She pursued legal action for enforcement of Japan's Equal Opportunities law and obtained recognition from the government that maternal

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...

is illegal. She was a 2015 winner of the US State Department's

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

Biography

Sayaka Osakabe was born in Japan in 1978. She was working as a magazine editor when she became pregnant. Rather than approve shorter

working hours Working(laboring) time is the period of time that a person spends at paid labor. Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countries regulate the work week by law, s ...

, her boss tried to pressure her to quit her job. After suffering two miscarriages, Osakabe asked for approved leave of absence should she become pregnant again and was denied. Osakabe quit her job under duress and pursued her case with a labor tribunal. In June, 2014, she won her case and formed a support group called ''Matahara Net'', using a

portmandeau In linguistics, a blend (sometimes called blend word, lexical blend, portmanteau or portmanteau word) is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. At least one of these parts is not a morph (the realization of a morpheme) but instead ...

of the English words "maternity and harassment" to create the name, which has now become a legal term. As of 2019, the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

ranks Japan 121st in the world in workplace equality and official labor statistics show one in four working women have experienced maternity harassment. Though Japanese law guarantees women the right to seek less physically demanding roles during pregnancy and allows 14 weeks of maternity leave or

parental leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...

, for either parent, in conjunction with childbirth, many women fail to utilize the guarantees due to perceived job insecurity. On 18 September 2014 ''Matahara'' members attended a trial at the Supreme Court in support of another woman undergoing a similar situation. The woman was demoted by her hospital employer during her pregnancy. A lower court ruling found that it was "in the scope of the hospital authority over personnel issues to remove her from her supervisory position," but Japan's Equal Employment Opportunity Law specifically bans demotion due to pregnancy. In a landmark ruling issued 23 October 2014, the

Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the Supreme court, highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Constitution of Japan, Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law. It ...

overturned the lower court verdicts and ruled that demotion or other punitive measures based on pregnancy violate the Equal Employment Opportunity Law. Osakabe continues her efforts with ''Matahara Net'' promoting the empowerment of women. Her goal is to change public policy and social perception so that all women, rather than an elite few, will have equal work opportunities. Thanks to Osakabe's actions and commitment, maternal harassment has been punishable by law in Japan since 2017.

References

External links

Matahara Net website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osakabe, Sayaka Living people 1978 births Japanese women's rights activists Japanese feminists Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award